Guess they weren’t kidding: Legends Tower, a proposed supertall skyscraper in Oklahoma City, cleared a big hurdle on its quest to become America’s tallest building — its developer says the project has secured full funding, a whopping $1.5B, with plans to start construction this fall. There’s flushing money, and there’s flushing money away with flair; this is the latter.
In today’s email:
Pet hotels: Lap dogs are living in the lap of luxury.
Damn: The story behind the failed house of the future.
Data point: Disney’s magical ROI on Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios.
Around the web: The perils of charismatic leadership, unpacking the Kate Middleton saga, and more.
👇 Listen: We dig into the economics of dating to answer the ultimate question: Can money really buy you love?
The Big Idea
Luxury hotels for dogs? Crazier things have happened
Dog boarding goes bougie.
2024-03-20T00:00:00Z
Sara Friedman
That bougie doodle on your block already wears a designer coat and eats organic food out of a sterling silver bowl — so it’s not surprising he’d turn his nose up at getting shoved into a crate at a boarding facility.
But sometimes even the most devoted pet parents have to leave their four-legged companions behind.
So, as designer breeds mutate and evolve, so too does the dog boarding industry. And luxury dog “hotels” are rising to the occasion, perThe New York Times Magazine.
K9 Resorts in Stamford, Connecticut, bills itself as an upscale hotel for dogs and has luxury suites with special bedding, decor, and dog TV programming for $129 per day.
Olde Towne Pet Resorts with locations in Maryland and Virginia offers visiting pups private rooms, activities, and a spa menu that includes treatments like a “pawicure,” blueberry facial, and mud bath; a luxury room goes for $120 a night.
Wag Hotels has locations nationwide and offers five-star grooming and spa treatments, themed events, and suites outfitted with queen-sized beds, TVs, and 24/7 camera monitoring for owners. A deluxe suite ranges from $95 to $128 per day depending on location and includes room service for three meals.
And for those who can’t bear the thought of their dog in a cage — even when it’s billed as a luxury suite — Paradise Ranch Pet Resort in Los Angeles advertises itself as America’s first cage-free boarding facility, complete with a doggie water park.
Five stars for Fido
It makes sense that people are splurging on their dog’s overnight trip: Dogs are the most popular pet in the US, and total spending on pets rose 50%+ between 2018 and 2022 to $137B.
And it’s not just hotels — our love for our pets has infiltrated our homes with “barkitecture” interior design trends.
There are dedicated bakeries, cafes, and restaurants (like this one in San Francisco that has a $75 tasting menu); normal human restaurants are also increasingly offering dog menus (your pup can slurp chowder on this Boston patio).
Plus, there’s now a full-blown event industry for pet parties, and Americans spend $500m+ a year on pet Halloween costumes alone.
It’s no wonder that doodle in the apartment next door is barking all day — he’s got it made.
Free Resource
The dreaded question: Where are you heading?
We know it sucks to sit and do adulting — but every so often, it’s super beneficial to size up your career and ask crummy questions, such as:
What really excites me about work? (World domination.)
What do I do better than 99% of the world? (Um.)
Which is the most fulfilling part of doing my job? (Talking to you!)
How can I improve to maximize my usefulness? (Get a second dog. And beam AI into my brain.)
Where will I go, and how will I get there? (… You first.)
This free career planning doc will help you organize your outlook and chase down your dreams.
Best to dive right in, the very moment you’re feeling it.
If you see someone in a Patagonia vest this week, give them a hug. The average Wall Street bonus fell to $176.5k in 2023, down 2% from 2022. It’s the lowest sum since 2019, following a mixed year for the market and a lull in mergers and acquisitions. But, while bonuses were down, they’re still ~2.5x higher than the 2022 median US household income of $74.6k.
SNIPPETS
Here’s the scoop: Unilever is making its ice cream division — which includes Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum, Breyers, and others — into a standalone business; it’s also cutting ~7.5k jobs to boost growth and save ~$870m over the next three years.
The return-to-office battle rages on: Dell reportedly told employees that those who don’t work in-office at least 3x per week are ineligible for promotions.
Wow: Nvidia announced its new Blackwell chip, which it says is 7- 30x faster than its H100 chip and uses 25x less power. It’ll cost you, though — one chip is estimated to cost $30k-$40k.
TikTok will now factor a “search value” metric into payouts through its Creator Rewards monetization program. Basically SEO for TikTok, creators will be paid in part based on how well their content answers user searches.
Coca-Cola is advancing its plan to make half of its packaging with recycled material by 2030: Starting this week, all 20-ounce Coke bottles in the US will be made from 100% recycled plastic.
A New York state judgedenied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit claiming Meta, Reddit, 4chan and other social media platforms are responsible for radicalizing Buffalo mass shooter Payton Gendron.
DraftKingsaccused former exec Michael Hermalyn of downloading sensitive files before decamping to rival Fanatics. DraftKings sued the “double agent,” claiming Hermalyn stole documents while staying at Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin’s home, then destroyed the evidence.
The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia is trying to recover ~$40m after a recent technical glitch allowed customers to withdraw or transfer more money than they had in their accounts. The bank says those who voluntarily return cash won’t be prosecuted.
Don’t miss this…
Eating alone at a restaurant: kinda sad or totally empowered? Wherever you land, it’s good business to cater to these solo diners. Find out why on this week’s Trends.
Beg, borrow, and steel
The US was this close to averting the housing crisis — in the 1940s
Imagine: 1k square feet of space, five rooms (including two bedrooms), eight closets, central heating, a dishwasher, sliding pocket doors, and built-in cabinets — all for just $91k.
In a world hurting for affordable housing, that’d go a long way.
And that was the plan for Lustron, the modular, all-steel, mass-produced house of the future, which hit the market in 1948. (It cost ~$7k back then.)
The Truman administration poured tens of millions into the Lustron Corp., hoping to supercharge production of the houses and transform housing access for millions of middle-class Americans in the process.
But in the end, only ~2.5k Lustrons were ever built. The house meant to change American life ended as a brief, failed social experiment.
There are thousands of companies valued at $1B+. How many clues do you need to identify today’s billion-dollar brand?
Clue 1: Founded in 1930, this company now boasts that it annually produces tens of billions of chips — and before you get too excited, no, none of them are the cheese-dusted kind.
Clue 2: Well, this is awkward: Its name suggests the US state where its true loyalties lie, but this company’s origins are actually traced to Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Clue 3: If you didn’t have one of their calculators in grade school, you were nothing. This writer wouldn’t have a college degree if it weren’t for the TI-83 Plus.
👇 Scroll to the bottom for the answer 👇
Data Point
The force is strong with this one: Disney has been busy with headline-making controversies. But, in the middle of a tumultuous year, the company reported that some long-term investments have been paying off. Big time. Disney purchased Marvel Studios in 2009 and Lucasfilm — maker of Star Wars — in 2012 for $4B each. Since those acquisitions, Lucasfilm has amassed ~$12B in value while Marvel has generated $13.2B. What does that mean? Spoiler alert: You best buckle up for more of Disney’s most profitable titles, like two new Star Wars movies and a reboot of The Fantastic Four.
AROUND THE WEB
🐀 On this day: In 1345, the Black Death (AKA the bubonic plague) was created by a conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. Or not. That’s what scholars at the University of Paris declared at the time, but we now know it was caused by bacteria passed from fleas to rats and other mammals.
📸 That’s cool: Check out the 60 finalists of Smithsonian Magazine’s annual photo contest.
🎧 Podcast: On Truth, Lies, & Workplace Culture, how charismatic leadership can both inspire and manipulate, and the psychological tactics used in cult-like companies to bind employees.
👑 That’s interesting: For Neiman Labs, former BuzzFeed News royal correspondent Ellie Hall unpacks the ongoing Kate Middleton conspiracy saga.
Yesterday, we asked you to weigh in on your favorite springtime sweet treat.
The reigning champ: Reese’s eggs with 34%. Runner up was Cadbury eggs (26%) followed by something else entirely (21%).
For those who went with “something else,” the most popular write-ins were jelly beans — especially Starburst — marshmallow eggs, and a clarification on Cadbury mini eggs.
There were also some votes for black jelly beans, stale peeps, and Kahlua. (You guys alright?)
Oh, and as for that Peeps poll: 63% said they’re gross and 37% said they’re good. Not the landslide we expected, honestly.
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